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Author Topic: Netbook for Lightroom - which one?  (Read 15609 times)

Thomas Krüger

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« on: July 21, 2009, 04:30:18 am »

Anyone is using Lightroom on a netbook? The minimum system requirements for the screen resolution of Lightroom are 1024x768, but most netbooks have smaller screen resolutions.

On travel I want to import my daily images in the Lightroom database to preview the images, editing metadata and doing backups on a external harddisc, that's all.  
Quite interesting are the MSI Wind Hybrid machines like the Wind U115 Hybrid with a small SSD HD and a 160GB drive, but the screen resolution is only 1024x600.
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Per Ofverbeck

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2009, 04:40:23 am »

Quote from: ThomasK
Anyone is using Lightroom on a netbook? The minimum system requirements for the screen resolution of Lightroom are 1024x768, but most netbooks have smaller screen resolutions.

On travel I want to import my daily images in the Lightroom database to preview the images, editing metadata and doing backups on a external harddisc, that's all.  
Quite interesting are the MSI Wind Hybrid machines like the Wind U115 Hybrid with a small SSD HD and a 160GB drive, but the screen resolution is only 1024x600.

I doubt you´ll like it, even if it were possible... I hate using LR even on my 15" PowerBook, with 2GB memory.  Extremely sluggish, and very crammed screen.  I´m looking for some lightweight sw that can read my raw´s, store and display them, and back them up.  Problem is, I´ve not found anything that can handle raws from both my D-Lux4 and my Panasonic G1 - except Lightroom.  Converting to DNG would solve that problem, but I prefer not to....
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Per Ofverbeck
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Thomas Krüger

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2009, 04:44:58 am »

Quote from: Per Ofverbeck
Problem is, I´ve not found anything that can handle raws from both my D-Lux4 and my Panasonic G1 - except Lightroom.  Converting to DNG would solve that problem, but I prefer not to....

Other programs could be the Breezebrowser http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser or PhotoMechanic.
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Robert-Peter Westphal

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2009, 05:00:48 am »

Hello,

I did a test with Lr 2.4 running on a Samsung NC10 netbook and it was terrible.

Lr could be installed very well and started without any complains, but the import-dialog for importing pictures from a device was much bigger than the screen. You couldn't reach the bottom of this popup, so the only way out was to terminate Lr by taskmanager.

Best wishes

Robert
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wcwest

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2009, 09:41:35 am »

I have an Asus PCeee 1000H with 2G of ram. I use it in the field tethered to my Canon 50D without  problems.  May not be the fastest, but fine for reviewing, storing and ranking images. You do have to scroll the screen for some dialog boxes though. However, I use the auto import feature on a watched folder and thus bypass the import dialog.
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Per Ofverbeck

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2009, 09:43:43 am »

Quote from: ThomasK
Other programs could be the Breezebrowser http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser or PhotoMechanic.

Windoze only.... won´t run on my Mac´s.... and PhotoMechanic doesn´t read either file type, according to their documentation.

When Apple finally gets around to support these cameras, iPhoto would work great, and so would numerous other apps, but Apple are SLOW....
« Last Edit: July 21, 2009, 09:52:28 am by Per Ofverbeck »
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Ben Rubinstein

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #6 on: July 21, 2009, 09:46:49 am »

I have an EEE PC 1000HE. Upgraded RAM to 2GB, upgraded HD to 320GB 7200RPM and overclocked to 1.81ghz.

LR is a bit of a pain due to the screen issue though there is a 1024x768 simulation where you 'scroll' down the screen. It's enough for getting past the import dialog which is pretty much the only thing you will need it for.

Bridge CS4 is a lot faster than LR on the netbook, no screen issues till you try and open ACR which really doesn't fit on the small screen. Rendering previews and generally working with the files is a lot lot faster though (pretty much the same as on a desktop, I'm not a fan of the speed of LR).

I use it with a bigger screen on location and love it for what it's made for while travelling there!
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Misirlou

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #7 on: July 21, 2009, 10:20:22 am »

I'm running LR from the smallest size Acer Aspire One netbook. I'm using it mainly as a review and storage platform in the field. I upload everything from my cards to the Acer via LR. Then I can delete the obvious flubs, add keywords, make labels and captions etc. I store all that on an external drive so that I can plug it into my main desktop machine at home, and just open or import the field catalog. Is it the optimal solution for editing and retouching? Of course not, but then again my tower won't fit in my camera bag.

I'm dual booting two different OS versions on the Acer; Windows 7 and OS X. It turns out that the Acer uses very generic Intel hardware, so it's easy to get OS X running on it. In OS X, you can type a simple command which scales a window up or down in resolution. That neatly solves the import dialog box sizing issue. Again, it's not a prefect solution, but it works reliably. I got the Acer for $200 as a refurb at CompUSA, so you can't argue with the price.

Before anyone gets huffy about running OS X on a PC, I bought a brand new retail copy of Leopard 10.5.6, and I'm running clean, legal licences of all the applications I'm using on it. I'm probably violating the Apple EULA, but I'm not depriving anyone of the money they deserve, as Apple doesn't make a netbook. And I did buy one of those snazzy aluminum bluetooth keyboards to use with it.

I also have a large external monitor at work. Both OS X and Windows 7 drive it just fine, at full resolution. When Windows 7 detects it, it switches the primary display to the external monitor, and uses the netbook LCD as the secondary. OS X won't do that, but it does work like any dual screen setup otherwise.

So I'd say LR is very workable on a netbook, within limits.
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Mike D. B.

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Netbook for Lightroom - which one?
« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2009, 08:02:57 am »

My Sony VAIO VGN-TX2HP with 11.5" screen isn't a modern netbook.  I've had it for about 3-1/2 years now.  It's quite slow and weak compared to today's modern units.  The 1.5 GB RAM and 1.10 GHz CPU aren't state of the art.

None the less, I use this small laptop (netbook?) with LR2 when traveling.  Though the monitor is calibrated, I don't really post process on it.  What I do is save the files, delete the less than good shots, add keywords and generally work on meta-data.  Then, when back home, I'll export that catalog to my PC.

I have thumbnails of most my images on this small laptop for viewing purposes.  I've never found LR2 too slow with this Sony (it isn't fastest anyway) to make using it an impossibility.  Sure, a larger screen would be nice but this netbook-style laptop is okay for my purposes - and small enough to carry around almost everywhere.

If you don't expect to use the netbook for everyday work, but just for outings, then I don't feel they're a great inconvenience.  Be aware of their limitations and use their stregths to your advantage!
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